…having Hamlet and the Ghost communicating in sign language—one might describe it almost as their “private” language—also served to produce the (in my experience, unique) effect of putting the father-and-son pair in a sort of psycho-spiritual bubble, contra mundum; a bubble that excluded all others and highlighted Hamlet’s isolation. The relationship between father and son portrayed in most productions comes across as distant, severe and (on Hamlet’s part) rather worshipful, even awestruck. In this production the father/son relationship is portrayed as having been loving and paternally intimate, which makes Hamlet’s reaction to his father’s tale of murder all the more harrowing. [x] [x]
#but the only thing is you’d have to know the play first #which seems a little exclusionary #good reasoning though
if i recall correctly, hamlet spoke the ghost’s lines aloud to the audience (you can see his mouth moving in the 3rd gif there). the other time the ghost appears, the closet scene, hamlet didn’t translate but the ghost’s message was conveyed through emotion just as well. there was also a nice moment in the same scene where hamlet tried to speak to his mother through signing — the private language of their family unit — and she refused to recognize it.
the actor playing hamlet’s father is deaf, and has been working with the oregon shakespeare festival for several years now, signing in all his roles. obviously i haven’t seen everything he’s been in, but from what i have seen i can tell you that through a combination of body language and actors translating, the meaning is clear even without spoken language.
edit: the actor’s name is howie seago
I saw Howie Seago at Ashland and he was terrific, some lines are spoken by the scene partner as in this gifset, and others are left un-interpreted if the meaning is fairly clear or can be extrapolated from context.
I love the idea of Gertrude refusing to sign as an indicator that she is totally over the idea of her + Hamlet Sr. + Hamlet Jr. as a family unit.
THIS IS THE PRODUCTION OF HAMLET THAT I KEEP TALKING ABOUT. I wrote my application essay to Columbia on it. I love this concept of Deaf Ghost so much and Howie Seago is an amazing person. I got to talk with him a little bit one afternoon when I caught him after a show and he is just a delightful person.
bongdanceking 